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This past July, a group of eight female student athletes traveled to Ethiopia as part of a week long service trip. It was the second consecutive year that the UK Athletics Department has led such a group. Nominated by their respective coaches, the delegation of student athletes spent ten days traveling across the country, serving those they encountered along the way stopping at places like a leprosy colony or a sports camp where they coached local children.

Two of those on the trip were A&S students Emily Holsapple, a biology major on the rifle team, and Grace Trimble, a political science major playing on the tennis team. In this podcast they discuss their service work and how this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will stick with them for years to come.

If you are an undergraduate doing a research project at the University of Kentucky, you can register for the Showcase of Undergraduate Scholars online at uky.edu/UGResearch/showcase.html by April 6, 2012.

The Society for the Promotion of Undergraduate Research (SPUR) hosts the Showcase of Undergraduate Scholars each spring. On April 25 from 4-7 p.m., the showcase will feature poster, oral and table presentations at the UK Student Center.

Guest speaker Sam Nicaise graduated from UK in 2010 and is currently doing nanotech research at MIT. As an undergrad, Sam led the UK solar car team. Come hear how his undergrad research experience prepared him for graduate work.

As a Paul Laurence Dunbar High School student, Gareth ("Gary") Voss came to the University of Kentucky to do research on the regenerative abilities of salamanders in Dr. Randal Voss's lab. Gary says, "At Dunbar in the Math-Science program, we have to join a faculty member at UK for a research project by the beginning of our junior year. And I heard about a professor at UK, who shared the same last name and the same first name, more or less, as my dad and his name is Randall Voss and he studies salamanders and regeneration.Things kind of clicked and I’ve been there ever since."

Gary's high-school project focused on tail regeneration. He notes, "I was not allowed to do any of the surgeries to remove the tails, but I was able to do the data analysis on the tails, and do a lot of interesting things in studying the regeneration of the salamanders."

Gary is now a freshman at UK majoring in biology and chemistry, and he says getting started early in research is really an advantage. "Getting started early gets you exposed to all the things you need to know. I was exposed to more things in genetics than most people my age would have been. Working in the lab not only puts you on the cutting edge of research and science, but it also lets you see all the things your classes are talking about in person, and to a greater extent."

Gareth ("Gary") Voss came to the University of Kentucky to do research on the regenerative abilities of salamanders as a sophomore in high school. Now a freshman at UK, Gary has conducted research that resulted in two papers. "They're very good papers," says his UK mentor Dr. Randal Voss. "We're not just talking about a couple of throw-away papers to 'Ranger Rick' journal. We're sending these papers to the top journals in the United States.

"It really is a coup for UK when we can get our top local talent to stay in state. Gary's a National Merit Scholar, and he could have gone to any university he wanted to, but he chose to come to UK."

University of Kentucky senior Taylor Lloyd got involved in research as a freshman, and she says it shaped her career path. In February 2012, Taylor was honored on the floor of Rupp Arena as a recipient of two prestigious scholarships: the NASA Astronaut Scholarship and the Goldwater Scholarship. Her research, in the lab of Bruce Downie (associate professor of horticulture at the UK College of Agriculture), focuses on light and temperature signals that govern the germination of seeds. Understanding these mechanisms will allow researchers to improve agriculture in light of rising global temperatures.

Zaheen Rabbani graduated from the University of Kentucky in May 2012 with dual degrees in biology and psychology. Zaheen credits his undergraduate research experience with developing critical thinking skills and prepping him to apply to medical school this fall.

"I probably learned more doing undergraduate research than I would have in a textbook. I’ve learned how processes work. It’s a different mindset. It allows you to think critically and that will definitely help in my future career. I’m going to apply to medical school in the fall. I hope to do research there as well.

"I’ve always been interested in research. That was actually one of my main reasons why I chose this university is because of its research focus," Zaheen says.

He started working in Physiology Chair Michael Reid's lab as part of a Bio 395 course, which gives undergrads credit hours for conducting research. "Patients who undergo a lot of chemotherapy report losses in muscle function. So my research focused on what treatment options are available, and the main goal was to prevent muscle atrophy.

"I think that most people are terrified at the thought of reaching out to faculty members and saying, 'Hey, I want to do research. What can I do to contribute to your lab?' You’d be surprised how many faculty members will welcome you with open arms and cause they’re always looking for somebody to take under their wing and mentor."